ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Italian Journal of Dermatology and Venereology 2023 June;158(3):255-61

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8671.23.07576-X

Copyright © 2023 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Clinical study on the efficacy and tolerability of an oral supplement based on arginine, l-cystine, zinc and B6 vitamin (Cystiphane®) in patients with telogen effluvium

Michela STARACE ^{1, 2}, Stephano CEDIRIAN ^{1, 2} ✉, Francesca BRUNI ^{1, 2}, Aurora M. ALESSANDRINI ^{1, 2}, Federico QUADRELLI ^{1, 2}, Andrea SECHI ³, Bianca M. PIRACCINI ^{1, 2}

¹ Dermatology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; ² Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; ³ Dermatology Unit, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy

BACKGROUND: Telogen effluvium (TE) is a common cause of non-cicatricial hair loss with no treatment-standardized protocol. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, and patient compliance of a treatment with an oral supplement based on arginine, l-cystine, zinc and B6 vitamin (Cystiphane^®, Laboratoires Bailleul, Geneva, Switzerland) with hair-growth properties, administered 4 times daily, in patients affected by TE.
METHODS: We recruited 20 patients, aged between 18 and 70 years old, affected by TE. Patients were asked to take the oral supplement as a monotherapy, four tablets daily, in one or two administrations during meals. The study lasted 3 months. We evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of the treatment both qualitatively by collecting the clinician’s opinion through a clinical evaluation and clinical-anamnestic form filled in by the researcher, and quantitatively through global photography and trichoscopy. We collected the patient’s opinion through a self-assessment test, at the beginning of the recruitment and after 3 months of treatment.
RESULTS: Eighteen patients were evaluated. After 3 months of taking the supplement, the researcher rated an average improvement of 2.89 at the clinical evaluation. For what concerns hair quantity, at the control trichoscopy, the mean trichoscopic value had risen to +2.055, whereas for hair diameter the mean trichoscopic diameter value had increased to +1.83. After 3 months of treatment, patients gave an average efficacy opinion of 3.61.
CONCLUSIONS: The oral supplement has proved effective as an adjuvant in the treatment of TE in our cohort of patients.

KEY WORDS: Scalp; Hair diseases; Alopecia; Dietary supplements; Cystine; Zinc